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Thursday, June 27, 2013

NOVA: “Earth from Space” (PBS, 2013)

The show was a two-hour NOVA special called “Earth from Space,” whose promos
made it sound a lot more
interesting than it turned out to be: instead of a series of views of earth
from space (which is what you’d expect from the title, wouldn’t you?) it was a lot of computer-simulated graphics supposedly showing
what earth is like based on measurements taken from satellites of phenomena
that because they don’t give off light waves in the visible spectrum (most of the information came from
infrared or microwave spectra) are invisible either from earth or space. The ballyhoo was about how wind events,
water flows (including ones under the ocean where heavy, briny water moves in waterfall-like patterns
through lighter, fresher seawater), volcanic activity and the like can cross
thousands of miles of earth and make an effect on weather and life across
nearly half the earth’s circumference. It’s an interesting point but it made
for some rather dull viewing, even though I was struck that one thing the show did do was demonstrate how interconnected all the
earth’s biological processes are — including a nice segment on the Amazon rain
forest and how important its output of oxygen is for the survival of all life worldwide even though most of the oxygen
given off by plants in the Amazon is consumed there — and how the show was an
unstated but unmistakable warning that attempts to muck around with the natural
balance of things will often leave matters worse than they were before. There were some interesting
personalities among the talking heads, including British scientist Emily
Shuckburgh (whose lower-class accent was fascinating given her intellect —
Henry Higgins would have had a field day with her!) and U.S. scientist Carl
Feldman, who looked like the Richard Dreyfuss character from Jaws as he would have naturally aged, but for the most
part this was a dull program on a subject that should have been really exciting
and dynamic. I was amused that one of the PBS
sponsors for it was the “David H. Koch Fund for Science” — ironic given that
the political contributions funded by David Koch and his equally evil brother
Charles could be called the “David H. Koch Fund Against Science,” since so much of the Kochs’ money goes
to deniers of evolution and human-caused climate change!